Kagura
by The-Belladonna-Rose
Summary: What if someone had decided Zuko wasn't so bad after he saved Lee from those Earth Kingdom bullies in season two? Kagura is an OC and I was wearing a funny hat and holding a new niece when she popped into my head so...meh.
1. Zuko Not So Alone

_**I was watching 'Zuko Alone' the other day and got it into my head, 'what if someone had stood up for Zuko when the townsfolk rejected him?' and this girl popped into my head. Also I was wearing a silly Easter hat with a rabbit on it so if she's weird; blame the hat. Plus my cousin just had a baby and I have always really loved babies and the strength that some pregnant women display so that'll explain certain elements of this story. Bryke owns ATLA but I own Kagura.**_

"My name is Zuko, son of Ursa and Firelord Ozai, Prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne." I looked up from the comfortable leaning spot I had found on the wall. It had been a rather ordinary day, even including Lee's 'kidnapping' and the ensuing fight...until I felt the tell-tale heat and sound, the proud and angry roar. So the stranger was a firebender. The prince of the Fire Nation. He did seem devilishly attractive for an Earth Kingdom man. Then I heard the shouts, the insults and declarations of hate. Even Lee, whom the Fire Prince had just saved, was shouting at the poor guy. I had to take a deep breath to keep from chewing out the entire town. He just rid them of a menace and saved one of their favourite children and they were kicking him out? The fire prince said nothing, merely mounted his ostrich-horse and rode out through the town gates. How noble of him. I had no idea what forced me to act but it was as if I had no control over my own body.  
"You should all be ashamed. He saved you and you kick him out just because of who his father is? Well done. You've all done a wonderful job of showing him the Earth Kingdom hospitality." I shook my head and took off after the prince. He didn't seem so bad. He may have been on ostrich-horseback but he was only walking and I quickly caught him up. "Hey wait." I grabbed his reins and pulled him to a halt.  
"Are you crazy?" The golden eyed teen snapped at me. "What are you doing?"  
"I don't know. I didn't think beyond stopping you." I shrugged. He squinted down at me from under his koolai.  
"You are crazy."  
"Look. I can help you." I poked his les than well nourished thigh. "You don't look too suited to fending for yourself." His eye narrowed further. He moved to kick his ostrich-horse forward but I stopped him again. "Look, this is my way of trying to apologise for the town's stupidity. Please let me help you. Otherwise I'm gonna go nuts with guilt."  
"You are nuts." His harsh expression softened. "But I could use your help." He reached his hand down and pulled me up into the saddle behind him. He urged his ostrich-horse forward and I almost fell off. "Hold onto me." He said over his shoulder. I wrapped my arms around his waist and I could feel the lanky muscles shifting with the movement of the animal. We had been riding for a few minutes before I felt him sit straighter. "What's your name?" It was almost an afterthought. I smiled softly.  
"My name is Kagura."


	2. The Chase

_**I have no idea if any of you like this or not since none of you review but I don't write this for you guys so...nyaaaah ;P .I've probably screwed with the timeline a bit but it suits my purposes so I don't really care .Bryke own everything but Kagura.**_

The Chase

The ground was white and crisp with snow and the barking roars of the bull turtle-seals echoed across the plain. I was dreaming. Interrupting the turtle-seals howling was a soft, husky voice.  
"Wake up. We have to move." There was a gentle shake on my shoulder and I rolled over. The golden-eyed prince was leaning over me, trying to wake me up. "We have to move." I sat up and gasped at the tugging and pinching at my shoulder. It had been too long since I had exercised it.  
"What hour is it?" my voice was rasping. I hadn't drunk anything since we had left the village.  
"The sun rose an hour ago." The scarred prince pushed his filled water skin towards me. My mouth tasted of dust, the addition of water made the taste of mud, something familiar and comforting to me.  
"Where we headed?" I handed him back the skin and he stuffed in a saddle bag.  
"Away from here. Do have any belongings?" he looked at me with those sharp golden eyes before hiding under his koolai again. I held my arms out beside me.  
"Only what's on my body." I shrugged. He still didn't know just how much that was of course. But I was hardly going to trust the prince of the Fire Nation with that knowledge.  
"Alright. Let's go." He swung up onto the ostrich-horse and pulled me up behind him again. Again I wrapped my arms around his waist and again we took off.

"Do you ever talk?" I eventually burst out. We had to have been riding for at least two hours and not a word had passed between us. I had grown up around people and the constant silence was killing me.  
"Do you always need to?"  
"When there's only us and the ostrich-horse for hours on end, yes." He was infuriatingly silent. Then he did the thing that amazed me. He spoke; moreover he asked me a question that required an actual answer. "Why don't you have anything?"  
"What?"  
"Why don't you have any belongings?" he didn't move his head but I could see his eye flick back to me. I breathed. I'd never had to answer that question before.  
"I...I don't know. I guess I never really needed anything." I shrugged. He scoffed.  
"Everyone needs something. I mean I've got my swords and a few other things. You can't just have nothing." I smiled.  
"I didn't say I was unarmed."  
"But you said-"  
"Have you never known a woman who could conceal a weapon?" his head twitched and I could see a memory flickering in the corner of his eye that I could see.  
"But that's all you have? Weapons and your clothes?" memories counted as clothes...didn't they. Some did, the ones attached to things.  
"Yep. That's everything." Practically.  
"But didn't you leave anything at the village?" there was genuine curiosity in his voice now. I laughed.  
"To tell you the truth I was only there for about three days. I was a stranger there, as you were." We were silent for a moment.  
"I heard what you said to the villagers." He said softly.  
"Shouted more like." I heard him let out a small chuckle as I corrected him. He sobered swiftly, pulling the ostrich-horse to a pause.  
"Do you really not judge me because of my father?" he seemed hesitant, almost afraid that I would reject him, like being kind of nice to him for a few hours was all a trick. I pulled his face around so that I was looking directly at him.  
"I will judge you the same as I judge everyone else. I will judge you on who _you_ are. Not on your father or your sister or your uncle. Just you." A tiny smile graced his lips but it was gone in the merest of instants. We rode in awkward silence.

"Zuko look there!" I pointed to land beneath the ridge we were riding along. "What is that?" The thing moved rapidly across the land, a plume of smoke billowing and spreading behind it.  
"I have a feeling it's..." he trailed off. "Hold on tight." We took off and until that moment I had no idea how fast an ostrich-horse could run. I really did have to hold on tight, he would probably have bruises but he only had himself to blame.  
"Zuko what is it?" he could probably barely hear me over the wind of our movement.  
"I'll tell you when I know." He answered inscrutably. I rolled my eyes.  
"Well that's certainly a helpful answer isn't it?" I muttered to myself. We rode hard and fast and though the animal's motions were smooth beneath us, I could tell I would have many bruises in the morning. Bruises on my hips and thighs, bruises on my stomach from where I was being jolted into Zuko's back and bruises on my arms from Zuko's hard stomach and skinny hips. If I didn't fall off first. Just the thought was enough to make me hold on tighter. I could do without that thank you. We rode for a very long time, I'm sure it was hours. "Wait." Zuko pulled the ostrich-horse to a silent stop. The strange machine was just sitting there ahead of us, its plume of smoke was gone and its engines idle. "There are two soldiers on the other side." I whispered as I slid out of the saddle, as silently as I could.  
"How can you possibly know that?" he hissed. If he was completely disbelieving he would have spoken normally. Time to prove that I could be useful. I crept around the machine, being careful to make sure the guards didn't hear me. They were talking loudly enough that it wouldn't have mattered if I stepped on a twig or some such impossible nonsense. I unsheathed my preferred weapons, giving the sai a quick spin and letting them settle in my hands. I slunk around to the soldiers, keeping low to the ground. I could hide myself behind one guard so that the other couldn't see. Not that it mattered anyway, quick flick of my right wrist and the guard facing me was down, a tiny dart in his throat. The other gasped and span, fists already aflame. Dodge to the left, deflect with the right sai and stab with the left while his guard was down. His right fist came up, engulfed in orange. I ducked, diving through his wide stance and latching onto his back, arms around his, sai at his throat.  
"Zuko!" the Fire prince sprinted around the machine, swords drawn. How cute, he thought I was in trouble. "I assume you wish to question him." The soldier gasped.  
"Prince Zuko! Your hair!" Zuko's eyes twitched and I pressed the weapon closer to the man's throat.  
"You answer questions only." I growled in his ear. Zuko nodded and shook himself.  
"Who commands you? Who is using this?" he barked. The soldier kept his mouth shut. Again the press of cold steel.  
"I advise answering friend."  
"Princess Azula and two others." Zuko frowned.  
"And where is she now?" his voice was calmer now...dangerous.  
"Chasing the avatar. That way." he nodded to a trail of white fur. "The others went in the opposite direction." Zuko nodded and I knocked out the now useless guard with the pommel of my right sai.  
"Is the other dead?"  
"Only if I missed." I looked at the brooding prince. "We're going after your sister aren't we?"

The trail led us to an abandoned and half ruined village.  
"Stay here." Zuko hissed as he slid out of the saddle. I jumped down after him.  
"Like I'm going to just sit here?" he span on me and for a moment I could see the strong, proud prince he had once been.  
"You will." He commanded. Stupid, overpowering man. He jogged off between the dilapidated buildings and I kicked a rock. If I had been a firebender, steam would have been coming out my nose. I looked at the ostrich-horse.  
"He couldn't really have meant it. I mean what if his sister kicks his skinny arse. Then it would be his death on my hands if I didn't jump in and save him. Or at least get him out of a sticky situation. Right?" the beast nickered. "Exactly. I'm glad you agree." I snuck of after Zuko but turned a few feet along. "Now you have to stay here." The thing just looked at me. "Great. I'm talking to an ostrich-horse." In the main street I could hear what I assumed was Azula's voice, cool and calculating, followed by Zuko, loud and demanding. If I snuck out a little further I would be able to see the brat. Wow. She was pretty. My eyes flicked between her and Zuko, seeking a resemblance that was almost destroyed by their father's blow. Then they moved. They trying to hit each other but there was a third person in the fray, a boy. Dressed in orange and brown he jumped lightly from one spot to the next; I had to physically move my head to keep track of all three of them. Then I saw the boy's tattoos. Both siblings were after the avatar. What had I gotten myself in the middle of? Stupid pathetic, sympathy needing prince. A burst of blue fire landed next to my feet and I jumped back behind the building. Crazy blue fire and feet endangerment. Not good. I made an executive decision and stayed behind the building. A firebender and an airbender could handle that little witch better than I could. It was cowardly but I stayed where I was, until the building started collapsing on top of me. I ran as swift as I could around to another alleyway. There I could see new additions to the fight; a waterbender and a guy with a boomerang. The Water Tribe! It had been a while since I had seen any of their ilk. Zuko had been knocked aside but he was on the other side of the main street and I couldn't get through the fray.  
"Out of my way Littlefoot!" I was pushed aside by a stocky little earthbender who bent her way into the fight. I could see Zuko from where I was, he was unconscious, I think, and there was an older man kneeling over him. I stepped out from my hiding place but was almost concussed by a rogue boomerang. Stupid, sympathetic, idiotic, apologetic me. When I looked out into the main street again, Zuko was up and he and the old man were circling Azula with the avatar and his friends. I couldn't quite hear what she said but it sounded like something to do with traitors. There was a pause and then Azula struck aiming for the old man. She hit her mark and all four benders attacked, fire, earth, water and air striking the same spot with the boomerang defining their target. There was something akin to an explosion and the rooves of the dilapidated houses all caught fire. The dust and smoke cleared and we all peered anxiously at the spot where Azula's body was...not. Zuko ran to the old man's side, tears running down the good side of his cheek. I joined him on the ground, my knees protesting at the force with which I dropped. Behind him I could see the avatar and his friends approaching, two figures in blue, one in yellow and one in green and cream. Zuko turned and shouted;  
"Get away from us!" The little earthbender looked as if she was about to cry. Zuko seemed irrational to me but before I could speak the waterbender reached out an arm.  
"Zuko I can help." She said softly. Zuko stiffened for a moment before turning and bending a plume of fire above their heads, not to hurt them, but to force them back.  
"LEAVE!" They ducked and with a final glance back in our direction, they ran.  
"Well done Zuko. That waterbender probably knew how to heal." The prince glared at me. I jogged over and found the terrified ostrich-horse. "I saw a hut type thing up that hill. Help me get him in the saddle." Zuko stayed where he was prone and weeping.  
"Why are you helping me?" he whispered, so soft and husky that I barely heard it. I sighed.  
"I don't know. I have a warped sense of honour." He looked up at that and found that I was already trying to heave the old man onto the ostrich-horse. He could have stood to lose a few pounds...or a few dozen. Zuko dove under the man's other arm and we managed to get his torso up. "You push his feet up and I'll make sure he doesn't fall off." In the end we got him slung over the saddle like a corpse, though he was still breathing. It was the best we could do. "Who is he?" I asked when we were halfway up the hill without a word having been spoken.  
"He's my uncle." Again a whisper so soft it barely reached my ears. I urged the animal to go faster.

**_Trust the mention of honour to get him to move huh. Please review._**


	3. Bitter Work

_**Bryke own all but Kagura. Also anything else you might spot belongs to their respective owners.**_

Bitter Work

It was too hot; muggy. I shifted in the heat, the scent of damp wood and stagnant water filling my nostrils. Even for the swamp it was hot. I couldn't breathe properly. When air finally managed to make its way into my lungs, it reeked of wood smoke and fire lilies. The swamp was burning! Burnt moonflowers smelt of fire lilies. My eyes snapped open and I jolted upright. I was met with the cold chill of night on the edge of a dessert. Fabric slipped down my torso. Odd, I didn't remember having a blanket and I was certain my shirt had been tightly secured. The whole dilapidated little house was lit warmly by a fire, though there was none when I went to sleep. I looked over at my temporary patient. He was sleeping fine, no movements that could aggravate his injuries, his breathing nice and deep and even. I looked across to the shadow on the other side of the fire. Zuko was staring blankly into the flames, tears still running down his right cheek. He was lacking a shirt.  
"Zuko you'll freeze." I reprimanded, moving into a more comfortable sitting position. The fabric from before slipped again and I recognised it as Zuko's shirt, his outer tunic being used as a blanket for his uncle. The prince didn't move. I stood and draped his shirt over his shoulders; to my own disappointment...he did have a very nice torso. "You're no good to your uncle if you're an icicle." I whispered, rubbing my hands up and down his arms. He reached up and stopped me.  
"I'm a firebender. I won't freeze." He did seem quite warm to the touch. "Why did you wake up?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"You were cold. I gave you the shirt and lit the fire for you. Why did you wake up? You should have slept better, not woken up." He was trying to distract himself. I knew that feeling well.  
"It was the smell of your shirt." The corner of his mouth twitched.  
"Are you saying I smell bad?" I laughed softly.  
"No. You smell nice. But in conjunction with a dream about a swamp..." I trailed off and he smiled. It was little but it was a smile.  
"So what does my shirt smell like?" he asked softly. I could feel a smirk grace my lips when I heard the gentle curiosity in his voice.  
"You smell like wood smoke and fire lilies."  
"A flame wouldn't catch in a swamp. Too wet."  
"I know that. It was the fire lilies." His eyebrow quirked in puzzlement, silently asking me to elaborate. "Where I grew up, there were a lot of moonflowers. When you burn moonflowers they smell almost exactly like fire lilies. It's quite disturbing dreaming that your home might be burning." He laughed, short and harsh.  
"My home is burning."  
"Ah. Swamp, Fire Nation; I think there's a bit of a difference there." I smiled. His face remained unmoved. I sighed and leaned back, allowing the heat from the small fire to wash over me.  
"Do you want to know what you smell like?" his voice was soft, husky. I perked up. Something about him fascinated me. He must have noticed me looking at him. "You know the smell just before it rains? When everything's waiting and then the first drops hit and it's electric. And something sweet that I can't place. That's you." It was kind of flattering being described in such detail, even if it was just my scent.  
"And when did you do all this sniffing?"  
"You were just leaning over my shoulder for the better part of ten minutes."  
"Fair point." I looked out one of the many holes in the walls. "You should get some rest. You'll probably need it."

The sunlight pierced my eyelids and made me wake up way sooner than I wanted to. I groaned and sat up. Iroh had been unconscious for two days now and I was confident with his progress, certain he would wake up soon. I searched the room. Iroh was missing and Zuko was sitting by a pot of steaming tea.  
"Where's our patient?" I sat up swiftly, regretting it when my head started spinning.  
"He's awake. Apparently two days asleep can really build up the bodily functions." The young prince was smiling. "Would you like some tea?"  
"Sure." I watched him pour the hot liquid into a little, cracked cup. "You must be happy that your uncle is awake."  
"I am." His smile got wider and I couldn't help but notice. It was the first time I had seen him with a proper grin on his face.  
"Your smile is amazing. You should do it more often." I took a sip of the offered tea. It took all my strength not to spit it out. It tasted of boiled leaves and ash. "It's... very bracing." I said with a little cough after I swallowed the mouthful. Zuko, who still had a light blush on his cheeks from my comment about his smile, went crimson.  
"That's just what uncle said." He shook his head. "It's not very good is it?" I laughed and shook my head, my nose scrunched. "And you could do better?"  
"I could do better with swamp herbs, I'm afraid." And I knew it was true, I had taken lessons. Zuko smiled awkwardly. He did have a wonderful smile.  
"Am I interrupting something, my nephew?" The voice was sticky and sweet, but slow and warm. It reminded me of slow summer days when all you wanted to do was just sit and laugh and be alive. Zuko jumped and scrambled to stand.  
"No! Uncle this is Kagura. She helped me get you up to this hovel. She also helped heal you." I stood and bowed to the former general.  
"How charming. Will you be joining Zuko in his training?" I'm sure he meant to be nice but he just came across as a little sleazy. He must have seen my look of confusion because he smiled and elaborated. "His firebending." I laughed.  
"Spirits, no! I am from the Water Tribe." Both fire nation men looked at me. I'll be the first to admit that I hardly looked as if belonged to the Water Tribe but I had been in hiding for a while now. "What?" the men shook themselves.  
"Well it's just that you do not look much like you belong to the poles." Iroh explained. I shrugged. Getting the hint that I was not going to elaborate further, the old man glanced at his nephew. "It is time to begin your advanced training, Prince Zuko." He settled himself on the rotting wooden floor, busying himself with the tea, fixing it. Zuko settled across from him, watching the tea-making process...hopefully learning something.  
"I'll just go explore a bit shall I?" it wasn't really a question. I would do it whether they allowed me or not. Neither of them answered so I just walked out through the giant hole in the wall. The view was spectacular. On one side was a small cliff looking out over the dry valley and on the other was a pretty little wood. I looked left... I looked right and then I sprinted into the trees. I wandered amongst them, looking for the perfect climbing tree and I found it. It was about ten metres from the hovel and I could see the perfect perch about twenty metres up. I then did something that I hadn't done for about a year and a half... I reached up with my left arm. Pain ripped through my back as soon as my humerus was level with my shoulder. "Fuck!" I gently rubbed the life back into my shoulder and breathed deeply. That still wasn't working then. _On with the right arm then_. It was much harder than I remembered to haul myself up the tree. I had to stop and breathe about five metres up. I could feel the sweat running down my body and I was determined to reach my perch by nightfall, arm or no arm. I looked out over the area. I could see through the hole in the hovel, Zuko and his uncle shifting, standing and moving out to the cliffside. I gripped the branch above me, thinking of all the times I had stood above the world and laughed at all those bound to the earth. Drawing upon some of the strength at my disposal I ran my legs up the trunk, wrapping them around the branch. For a moment I hung suspended upside down. I felt like a three toed snail-sloth. A giggle escaped my lips, the blood rushing to my head. Everything looked so funny from this angle. I sighed and shimmied my way onto the top of the branch. Reach and pull, reach and pull, I made my way up the tree. Another five, long metres and I had to rest...just close my eyes for a moment.

I was standing in the oldest part of the temple, the place most connected to the spirits. It was where I had spent much of my time as a girl and its carpet of swaying, fragrant moonflowers was something comforting and familiar to me. Between one blink and another I was laying amongst the flowers, my hands behind my head. The light clouds danced across the sky, for this was one of the few places in the temple where the sky could actually be seen. But the clouds were soon swallowed by an intense blue light. This was shortly followed by a loud crash that jerked me from my slumber. The sky around me faded back to its normal hues and the lightning dissipated. Craning my neck I could see Iroh stretching his injured arm. I would have to scold him for it later. So he was teaching Zuko how to bend lightning. I rolled my shoulders and looked up, wiping dried sweat from my brow. _Onwards and upwards._ I smiled to myself; the airbenders certainly had a way with words. I tried stretching my left arm out again. The pain was still there but it was less now. As I was climbing, I was thinking. I had really nothing to gain from travelling with an old man and a scarred Prince...but then I had really nothing else to do either. Zuko didn't seem so bad, although he was attached to Azula and Ozai. Why was I always apologising for things that I didn't do, getting into things that didn't involve me? I stopped. Oh yeah...it was part of my job. Perhaps travelling with them wouldn't be so bad. I mean it wasn't like I was best friends with the Fire Nation any way; in fact I was trying to avoid them as much as Zuko and Iroh were. I paused, realising where I was. I had reached my perch! It was almost sunset and I ached all over but I had reached it. There was a peal of thunder in the distance and the far away blue flash of lightning. In a tree is not the best place to be during a storm. I sighed. I only just got there and now I had to climb down. At least down was easier than up.  
"Kagura!" that sticky voice was right below me. "Kagura!"  
"I am up here General." Iroh looked frantic. "What's wrong?"  
"I am afraid Zuko has done something very reckless." I began my descent, carefully reaching and stepping. "I taught him to redirect lightning and I believe he has headed into the storm to try it." I jumped the last few metres, regretting it as soon as my ankles felt the impact. A wave of familiarity hit me. This had happened before... a teenage boy, a snow storm, an angry mother tiger-wolf and a frantic, tear-streaked betrothed. That one hadn't had such a happy ending.  
"We have to go stop him. He could be killed."  
"You're telling me." There was another rumble of thunder. "But how? He took the ostrich-horse with him."  
"I'll run." And I did. I left Iroh to wait and set out towards the storm hovering above the mountains. He would head for a peak where it was easier to get hit. Stupid boy. He just had a death wish didn't he? What kind of moron tries to get himself hit by lightning? Who leaves his injured old uncle alone (relatively) and runs off to a situation he probably won't survive? I was so angry. Arrogant, insufferable prince. I hardly noticed the distance passing beneath my feet. Hours in the boiling steam hut and days spent on the run from authorities had hardened my body to this type of predicament. I was going to be sore as anything and almost completely out of breath when I stopped but for the life of me I kept running. I was slowed when I hit the mountain and the rain but I had spent all day climbing and my muscles were warm from running. A fork of lightning hit nearby and I heard shouting. What, he thought he could _make_ the lightning strike him by terrifying it? Bloody prince. I peeked over the edge and saw him standing, looking at the sky. There were tears running down his uninjured cheek and his shouts had reduced to quiet ramblings. I looked up and saw the energy gathering...right above Zuko. A final burst of adrenaline surged through my system and I hauled myself over the edge. Everything slowed down, the blue streak of untamed fire curled lazily towards Zuko and the Fire Prince opened his arms, accepting the damned thing. He didn't even take the correct stance. I launched myself straight at his midriff, knocking him out of the way. As the lightning carved a crater in the peak, Zuko and I slid almost to the other side, it was a sheer miracle that we didn't go over the edge. When the lightning was gone, the rain was pounding my back and I had an angry prince in my arms.  
"What do you think you're doing?" he shouted at me, pushing me away. I shoved him back, though it was weak. I was weak. I couldn't move, my muscles had decided that they had had enough for one day. "Kagura?" Zuko shimmied out from under me and rolled me onto my back. "Are you alright?" I couldn't even lift my arm.  
"Not really. My muscles are worn out."  
"Why?" he looked across to where the dilapidated hut was standing. "Did you run that whole way?" my head flopped to the side.  
"Yes. Yes I did."  
"Why?" he sounded so very confused.  
"You could have been killed, Iroh was very worried." I did not wish to see another bereaved parent, though Iroh was only an uncle. Zuko smiled. "You're all he has left you know and he loves you very much."  
"Yeah. I know." He conceded. "Come on. We should get you back so you can rest."

**_Cause long distance running sucks, but i figure, hey she's got the lungs for it. her arm hurts for a reason which will be explained later. please review this time._**


	4. The AntiLibrary

_**Bryke own all but Kagura. The Moreae belong to the always fabulous Burning Ice, check out her profile. Anything else you might spot along the way belongs to their respective owners. **_

I wasn't asleep, not exactly, but I could see things behind my eyes as I stared into the little fire. It was dancing, they were dancing. There were little flickering women in the flames, curling in on themselves and striking out at each other, moving in intricate patterns as old as the world. Some were gold, or red or orange, but curling and twirling at the heart of the celebration was a billowing outfit of white, like a spirit amongst mortals. 

"What do you see Kagura?" that sticky voice failed to break the spell as the body attached to it wrapped a blanket around my shoulders. I briefly wondered if it were the elderly general making the figures in the fire but the thought was gone as soon as it came. I saw what I saw, no matter how weird it was. 

"They're dancing." I whispered, pulling the blanket around me. "Little fire spirits." Iroh coughed and looked at me oddly. 

"Give me your clothes." 

"Aren't you a charming prince? At least buy me a drink first." Zuko was back. Dressed in very little, I realised as he walked around in front of me. He had nice legs, though they were a little under-nourished. 

"I'll dry them." He had a little smile. I raised an eyebrow at him. "I promise I won't look." 

"I won't either." Zuko ran his palm over his face at Iroh's joking comment. 

"As long as you both promise." They nodded and turned their backs. There was no way I was stripping all the way down in their presence and my underwear wasn't as soaked as the rest of me but there was a lot of me that needed drying. Off with the over-tunic, then the disarming of an assortment of useful implements (not the least of which being my sai), goodbye to the light undershirt, dropped my holsters and trousers then grabbed the blanket and made sure everything was covered. "Okay." Zuko turned and Iroh busied himself making tea. Zuko looked at the pile of things by feet. 

"I thought you said you didn't have any possessions." He raised his eyebrow at me. 

"I said I only had the things on my body." He shrugged and gathered my clothes, laying them out carefully by another small fire that he had lit. I wandered out and sat on the edge of the little cliff. I was right; it was almost the full moon. I would have to do something about that. We had to find other people at some point right? Other guys? Guys that weren't Zuko?

"You look worried." Iroh came out and sat down beside me.

"It's almost full moon." I answered. I didn't expect him to understand and correctly predicted the lift of his right brow. "Have you ever heard of the Moreae?" It was as if a light went on behind his eyes. He nodded.

"The moon temple in the swamp?" I nodded in return. "So you need to be around people during the full moon?"

"Preferably people I can love and leave without ensuing awkwardness." I smiled. "So that rules out Zuko. And I barely know him." Iroh laughed.

"To tell you the truth I think it would do him some good." I chuckled. The prince could definitely stand to relax a bit...or a lot. But I was not going to be the one to do it. "We will try to be near people during the full moon if it will make you more comfortable." With a final pat on the back, Iroh left me to my contemplation of the moon. Word had reached me from the temple that Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe had passed, had become the moon spirit. There were only two Water Tribe princesses left now; the chief's daughter of the Southern Tribe and the Spirit Priestess of the Foggy Swamp (who was on her coming of age excursion into the world). That seemed criminally unfair. At least the Southern Tribe had their Prince. Even the Fire Nation had two heirs. But there was only one Spirit Priestess. The Moreae and the Swamp men could run themselves effectively without her but she was their link to the outside world, when that world was at peace.

"You look troubled." That was the second time I had been _told_ how I looked by a Fire Nation man.

"What is it with you and Iroh?" I asked, shocked by the unusual kindness. "You're so unlike your father and your sister." Zuko sighed.

"Yeah. Uncle said you seemed worried about something. I thought that, since you're travelling with us, I might, talk...to you." He lifted his arm and scratched the back of his neck. He looked so adorably awkward when he was flustered. I chuckled and patted the dirt next to me. He sat down with a _whumf _and twiddled his thumbs a bit.

"So...talk." I smiled. Zuko clucked his tongue against his teeth. He looked like he was thinking but it just annoyed me. "If you're not going to talk I'm going inside." I was standing with my back to him before I heard his voice.

"How did you get that scar?" I sighed.

"Which one?" I asked bitterly, turning back to him.

"The one on your shoulder, your left one. It goes up your neck and-"

"I know where it goes." I checked and saw that the blanket had slipped when I stood up. I sat down next to him again and sighed. "A few months ago, I was wandering where I shouldn't have been. Some Fire Nation soldiers found me and tried to 'commandeer' the fruit I had bought. I fought back and one of them burned me. The women I was with fought the soldiers off with waterbending and tried to heal me but they weren't quick enough. It hurt for a long time and it still hurts, though not as much as it did and I managed to climb a tree today so that's good. I couldn't move it and they had to delay my coming of age exploration."

"Coming of age exploration?" Zuko looked confused and I recalled that the Fire Nation didn't really do anything to celebrate official adult-hood.

"When a girl from the Foggy Swamp Water Tribe turns sixteen, she is sent out to see as much of the world as she can in a year. At the end of the year, the girl goes back to the swamp with things she has collected, adornments and memories and such. Then there's a big ceremony where the priestesses look into your memories and adorn you with appropriate tattoos based on what you did and saw and the jewellery you collected.

"That's pretty cool." He paused for a minute. "But all of the Water Tribe women in the royal harem have piercings in their ... um... _nipples_," He whispered the last part, "and their ears or noses and no tattoos." He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Some of the pierced ones are not yet sixteen."

"Your father has a harem?" I lifted my eyebrow at him and he nodded. "You know that some of that harem have nipple piercings?"

"Yes. My father was very eager for me to be a man. But what I mean is: why were they pierced if they weren't sixteen yet?" I chuckled and he pouted at me. "Can we please get over the fact that I lost my virginity to a harem woman?" My chuckle turned into a giggle and I leered at him.

"I'm gonna hold that above your head for the rest of your life." He frowned at me. "They were from the polar tribes? Not from the swamps?" he nodded. "In our sister tribes a girls nipples are pierced on her twelfth birthday. It signifies her transition into adulthood, even if she hasn't had her first bleeding yet. If she bleeds before her twelfth birthday, her nipples are pierced at the next full moon." I smiled. "It is a 'sacred' thing, known only to the women of the tribes."

"But why should that differ from your tribe?" he asked innocently. I don't know why he didn't just straight out ask if I had pierced nipples.

"It is a woman's choice if she wants such adornments in my tribe. She makes that decision when she returns from her Exploration." Zuko looked as if he was about to ask more questions but we heard Iroh's footsteps behind us.

"We should get moving in the morning. It is time for bed." He ambled back into the little hut. Zuko stood and helped me up before moving inside. I curled up on one side of the fire with Iroh on the opposite side and Zuko flopped down beside me. I drifted slowly and peacefully into sleep for the first time since I had gotten the scar on my shoulder.

_**So review and make me happy people. Know that all flamers with be tortured to within an inch of their life and then thrown into a volcano. Or at least chewed out very badly.**_


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